Ascension of an Empire
by Zenzao
Summary: What if Ariana did not die that fateful day? What if Albus wasn't awoken from his desires and dreams of glory? What if he and Gellert successfully rose to power and laid claim to the Hallows along the way? The beginning of a long journey.


The screen-door slammed opened and shut again on its creaky hinges as an auburn haired youth strode over toward his older and taller brother, eyebrows meeting together in frustration. "You can't do it!" he objected in a tone laden with emotion, coming to a halt only a foot or so away.

Albus concealed his sigh behind a tired look, bringing up his left hand and pushing the half-moon glasses perched on the tip of his nose back into position.

"What would you have me do, Aberforth?" he asked in quiet resignation. "Look at what the muggles have gotten away with, day by day and night by night, forcing our kind to hide away in shadow and illusion? Look at what the Ministry has allowed them to accomplish with the laws defending their actions?"

Aberforth ground his back teeth together. "I don't give a ruddy damn about the muggles, or do you think I've forgotten what they've done to our family? No! Just leave Ariana _here_ while you and _him_ go gallivanting around trying to rule the world!" he insisted furiously.

Albus closed his mouth and looked more closely down at his younger brother by three years, weighing once more the weight of Ariana's care against the schooling and time that would be lost if he allowed his brothers desire to be acknowledged.

Just as he was about to speak a firmer if somewhat harder voice called over the fence, "What's the matter, Albus? I thought we agreed to be ready by 6 o'clock sharp," and drew their attention.

A dirty-blond haired man was striding along the edge of the fence that surrounded the front and back yards, his rough and worn leather cloak partially covering up the blood-red robes beneath, and at his side and looking somewhat dismayed walked the youngest Dumbledore, Ariana.

He was holding her hand firmly in his own and pacing just faster than she was capable of walking in a natural stride, forcing the younger witch to step quicker to keep up, and Aberforth felt his anger take the better of him as he rounded on Albus.

"What were you thinking? How could you leave her alone with him?" he demanded, brandishing his wand in a moment of careless thought. Albus placed both hands on his shoulders to keep Aberforth from doing anything more foolish than he already was.

"I trust Gellert to watch over Ariana more than I would any muggle, and unfortunately so more than I would you, my brother." He said in that same quiet tone, now carrying an undertone of steel.

Aberforth stepped back as if slapped, and Albus continued, "You are too young to care-after our sister, and I will not permit chance to finish what it once started several years ago."

"We do not have time for this, Albus." The man now recognized as Gellert said flatly, the hand not holding onto Ariana dipping into his cloak in an unmistakable motion.

Aberforth was quicker as he already held his wand in hand, but Albus was quickest that morning, disarming his brother with no degree of satisfaction entering his expression. "Stop! If you think she is better looked after by you than I or Gellert, then consider what just occurred; how easily you were halted before a spell could cross your lips!" he stated sharply.

"_Imperio._" The word rippled over the cool morning air as Gellert directed it onto the middle Dumbledore sibling, and after one furious moment all expression but one of bland sub-servitude spread over Aberforth's face.

He held up the hand with the wand in a show of peace as Albus turned rapidly to face him, eyebrows upraised in surprise and distaste. "We run out of time, Albus. If you wish to discuss measures with your family, do so later, when our schedule is not endangered; I will permit you bring him along as well if that will satisfy you." He explained calmly.

Albus looked more closely at Ariana and found no signs of a similar glazed expression on her face, and so he nodded with a curt, if grim, "Thank you, Gellert," before stepping over to stand beside him. Aberforth obediently trotted over, and together the four of them vanished amid the crack of Apparation.

* * *

><p>The boom of heavy thunder overhead masked what noise would normally have been heard as three wizards and a young witch appeared in a back alley of an village.<p>

Rain dripped down off of old gutters and soaked the cobblestone streets up to their ankles, reflecting the pale yellow fire light flickering around curtains and spilling out of the edge of windowsills. It was, quite accurately, a downpour to match any seen within Britain at this time of the year.

Gellert's thin eyes scanned around and after a moment he raised his wand again, directing Aberforth into a crevice in between two houses where he would be wet but out of sight, and the younger wizard obediently trotted toward it quietly with barely a splash of noise.

"He lives not far off, Albus," the blond wizard said shortly, "my current wand was acquired from him several years ago, and even then the rumors were clear."

"I shall raid the shop and disable him, if you will work around his wards." He said, finally sharing what was planned. They had not discussed who would receive which Hallow very often, but it would seem that Gellert desired the Wand for himself and had little intention of giving the auburn haired man a chance to claim it.

Albus recognized the truth of that now, and he exhaled sharply before nodding. That would be the price he had to pay for taking both of his siblings along on their journey.

"I accept," he agreed readily enough, to reassure his partner that this unplanned kink would not break their union so soon. Gellert rarely displayed any emotion and tonight was no different, though the tension in his shoulders relaxed by a noticeable degree- it was not a hard thing to spot given how his clothing clung to his skin from being soaked through already.

"Keep an eye on Ariana while I search out the ward positions and where he may have set the key stone," Albus requested, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Gellert's lips press tighter together as he turned to examine the houses outside of the edge of the alley, closing his eyes as he brought his wand up and casting a brief series of advanced ocular charms atop cornea.

When he opened them up again he had no need to look through the half-moon glasses clinging to the tip of his nose, seeing the black and gray buildings tinged with the faint musty green of old magic saturating them here and there.

Ahead and four houses down a twisting ring of dark blue enveloped to the very edges of the property, with spikes of clearer color denoting where it was bent around a spell or curse. Motes of the same tones drifted up into the air from the ring and clung to an circular half-dome of flat yellow overhead, indicating an supplemental ward to the primary one.

A disturbance in the air inches behind the ring meant that an unseen wall of energy was set up to react if something managed to get around either ward, but in what way it would do so couldn't be determined yet- for all they knew, it was merely an alarm to forewarn Gregorovitch, or it could be something far more sinister.

**End Chapter One.**


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